US Open Grand Prix Gold: Ajay Jayaram and Anand Pawar set up all-Indian quarterfinal

El Monte, United States of America: Fourth seed Ajay Jayaram and Anand Pawar set up an all-Indian quarterfinal in the US Open Grand Prix Gold badminton event in El Monte Other Indians who made the quarterfinals were the men’s doubles pairing of Manu Attri and B Sumeeth Reddy, and women’s doubles duo of S Poorvisha Ram and Meghana Jakkampudi. [caption id=“attachment_2439698” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of Ajay Jayaram. AFP[/caption] Pawar defeated compatriot Pratul Joshi 21-10, 21-13 while Jayaram outplayed Pedro Martins of Portugal 21-11, 21-15. In the men’s doubles, second seeds Attri and Reddy dug deep to beat Japan’s Kenya Mitsuhashi and Yuta Watanabe 23-21, 21-13 in a match lasting 39 minutes. The Indians now face another Japanese combine of Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. The women’s doubles pairing of Poorvisha and Meghana advanced to the last eight with a 21-16, 21-6 win over America ’s Ariel Lee and Sydney Lee. Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa were seeded one for the women’s doubles but they did not take part in the competition due to latter’s health.